By Anderson Ojwang
On her 76th birthday, Mama Ida Odinga shook the country’s political terrain with her monumental pronouncement.
She took her special day, her birth date, to unveil her son and the heir apparent to former Prime Minister, the late Raila Amolo Odinga, Raila Junior.
Raila moved to unveil her son Junior to the constituents of Kibra for the 2027 parliamentary seat.
With the pronouncement, Mama Ida placed Raila’s legacy to the test and Kibra, the bedroom, for a titanic duel for the seat.
Mama Ida, at her Karen residence, took the moment to formally and officially introduce her son, Raila Junior, to the Kibra constituents.
Bedroom
Kibra constituency was the political bedroom of former Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga, and it is where he was first elected as MP in the 1992 general elections. It was formerly known as Langata constituency before it was subdivided into two constituencies.
“Kibra was Baba’s bedroom. Raila loved Kibra. His politics rotated around Kibra. He started his Nairobi politics in Kibra. Now you people of Kibra, you have come up with another issue,” she said.
I give unto you my child
Ida said the constituents had convinced her to allow her son, Junior, to contest for the seat.
“They have told me that the child of a lion is a lion. If you have decided on that, for me, I don’t know. If you have decided, I do not know anything.
But I am leaving the boy in your hands. First, the leadership of Kibra, I have left him in your hands,” she said.
Mama Ida named Raila’s allies and tasked them with the responsibility of leading her son’s campaign.
“Bwana Speaker, Mama Catherine, Lawi and Ochieng Jera, among others. All of you who are here, I have left my child in your hands.
For those of you who are here, I have given you my child. What else do you want? If anything happens to him, it will be up to you.
All of you who have come to the front, I have given you my child. Protect and educate him,” she said.
She called for the leaders to engage in clean and non-violent politics, but issue-based.
“Remind him of those who started politics with Baba in 1992. Show him the way so that he walks the right way and does the right things.
Do clean politics devoid of abuse, violence and hooliganism. Convince people with your word and manifesto,” she said.
She said because of her current position, she will not engage in politics as civil servants are barred from politics.
“I have done many things even in Nairobi here, but I don’t want to boast of what I have done to different groups and people.
I am Permanent Representative to UNEP, a very important position. I am a civil servant. We are not politicians and campaigners, but because of the old ties and you came, you remain our people.
You should know that I will not be going out to campaign because of my position,” she said.
Junior said people have been asking whose political project he was, but said he was his own project.
“People have asked, Junior is whose project? I can only be my own project. We will meet at the ballot,” he said.
Recently, Junior hosted President William Ruto in Kibra at an educational function.
Orero red card
The decision by Mama Ida to unveil her son for the Kibra seat was a red card flashed at the incumbent, Peter Orero. Orero was a close confidant of Raila and now will have to contend with the emerging political dynamics.
Raila Junior has developed a close relationship with his uncle and the ODM party leader, Dr Oburu Oginga.
Dynamics
For Junior, he must win the seat at all costs to preserve his father’s legacy and bedroom. Any slip would dent the legacy of Raila, and that is why he has a herculean task in his hands.
For Orero, Junior’s entry into the race complicates the ODM ticket and may force him to seek an alternative vehicle.
Kibra will be a closely watched and contested battlefield, and ODM and Junior will have to up their game to protect the bedroom.
